The Green Hornet Streetcar Crash | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

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"On the 25th of May, 1950, at around 6:30pm, a crowded tram was making its way through the streets of Chicago..."

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Transcript

00:00On the 25th of May, 1950, at around 6 30 p.m. a crowded tram was making its way

00:18through the streets of Chicago. As it approached a switch in the track the

00:23driver missed the frantic signals of a worker on the street and plowed through

00:27the track switch at high speed. Immediately the tram collided with a

00:32fully loaded tanker truck hauling gasoline. Fuel spilled out and ignited

00:38in a giant fireball, beginning one of the most deadly public transit disasters in

00:44Chicago's history. In 1950 streetcars were a common sight in Chicago. The city

00:53had just purchased hundreds of new electric trams which, due to their

00:57distinctive green and cream coloring, came to be known as Green Hornets. These

01:03vehicles could seat around 57 passengers apiece, with room for more standing. Each

01:11Green Hornet was staffed by two Chicago Transit Authority workers. A driver would

01:17pilot the vehicle while a conductor would sit at the rear doors to take

01:21tickets and answer passenger queries. To ride you'd board through a wide door at

01:28the back of the vehicle, take a seat, and then disboard through two narrower doors

01:33further up the car when your destination was reached. Although, like every other

01:39tram or streetcar, the Green Hornets ran on rails their routes weren't always

01:44fixed. Streetcars could be moved between different tracks using switches and

01:50around using loops situated all over the network. Often streetcars would be

01:56required to use alternate routes, for example when there were roadworks or a

02:01broken-down vehicle blocking the way. On the 25th of May 1950 flooding was the

02:08issue. An underpass near the intersection of State and 63rd streets had become

02:14flooded. Because the motor of most streetcars on the network was situated

02:19very low in the chassis even a relatively small amount of standing

02:24water was a problem. City workers were called out to unblock drains and clear

02:29the flood, work that would take several hours. In the meantime all streetcars

02:35would have to be diverted. Chicago Transit Authority employee Charles Clime

02:41was sent to assist with this task. His job would be to stand beside the switch

02:47and signal to approaching streetcars to slow down. He would then be required to

02:52operate the switch and send them into the loop so that they could turn around.

02:57Clime did his job diligently, waving down and turning around streetcars as they

03:02arrived. The hours dragged on so that he had turned around almost 200 streetcars

03:08by the time he got word that the flood was soon to be cleared. Another 15

03:13minutes and things would be back to normal.

03:16No doubt relieved, Clime returned to his post, ready to turn around the last few

03:22streetcars of the day. At around 6.30 p.m. a trolley approached. Clime waved for it

03:30to slow down, but it did not. Surprised, Clime moved forward and waved again more

03:36urgently... but the streetcar still didn't slow down, despite Clime's now frantic

03:42gestures. It carried on at full speed straight past him. Things happened

03:49quickly after that. The streetcar plowed into the turnaround loop at full speed. A

03:55distinct buzzing sound reported by survivors indicated that the driver

03:59applied the emergency brake at this point, evidently realizing his mistake. But

04:05it was too late. The streetcar slammed into a gasoline tanker that had just

04:10emerged from the flooded underpass. A massive explosion took place, with a

04:15fireball blasting in through the front window of the streetcar. Fuel gushed from

04:21the ruptured tanker, forming a pool around the wreck and quickly igniting.

04:25Within seconds the whole scene was ablaze. On board the Green Hornet panic

04:32took hold as passengers surged towards the back of the car in order to escape

04:37the flames. At this point the actions of a 14-year-old girl were instrumental in

04:43saving several lives. Beverly Clark was riding the streetcar alone, heading for

04:49the cinema to catch a movie. Immediately following the collision she was thrown

04:54to the floor and then trampled by her fellow passengers as they escaped

04:58towards the rear of the streetcar. Somehow she managed to get to her feet

05:03and reach the center door, only to find it firmly sealed. Her efforts to force it

05:10open were hopeless, but after a moment she remembered that there was an

05:14emergency door release. Beverly knew how to find and operate the emergency release

05:19only because she had pulled it on several previous occasions as part of

05:24childhood pranks with her friends. These practice runs almost certainly saved her

05:30life. Reaching up Beverly operated the release and the doors sprung open. She

05:37spilled out into the street and was followed by several incredibly lucky

05:41passengers before the spreading flames blocked the center doors once more.

05:47Meanwhile at the rear of the car a pileup was taking place. The doors there

05:53opened inwards, and so no amount of pushing and kicking by frantic passengers

05:58inside the car would make them open. The conductor, a man named William Liddle, had

06:04been seated beside the doors when the collision took place. The impact had

06:09thrown him to the floor, where he was then trampled by other passengers. By the

06:14time he regained his footing passengers were already congregating by the rear

06:19doors, attempting to force them open. Liddle shouted for the crowd to stand

06:25back and let the doors open. At the same time he reached for the levers to

06:30release the doors. He knew full well that they would not open if people were

06:35applying pressure from the inside, and he wasn't sure if his cries to stand clear

06:40of the doors were being heeded. The interior of the car was now full of smoke,

06:44confusion, and noise. Nonetheless he pulled the levers and the doors

06:49miraculously sprang open. Liddle and a small number of other passengers were

06:55able to escape. However, the crush around the doors was so intense that it soon

07:01forced them closed again. The remaining passengers were left with few other

07:06options. They had only seconds left to escape. Using whatever came to hand

07:12several broke windows and attempted to squeeze through them. They were largely

07:18thwarted by metal bars which had been installed across the windows. Ironically

07:24these were safety bars designed to stop passengers leaning or reaching out of

07:30windows. Nonetheless a small number of people were also able to escape this way.

07:36One passenger, 18-year-old Arlene Franzen, recalled squeezing out through a

07:43painfully narrow gap and escaping onto a nearby green. When she turned around she

07:48saw a co-worker of hers, who happened to have been on the streetcar too, attempting

07:54to escape through the same window. As Arlene watched her co-worker was

07:59overwhelmed by the flames and collapsed back into the car. Passers-by rushed to

08:06help those few who could escape, but most rescuers were soon beaten back by

08:11the spreading flames. By the time firemen and other emergency personnel arrived on

08:17scene there was nobody left alive on board the streetcar to save. The flames

08:22were so immense that the first firefighters on scene couldn't even

08:27determine that there was a streetcar in the midst of them. All in all 34 people

08:34killed in the crash and subsequent fire, the driver of the streetcar included. 50

08:41people also sustained serious injuries. Before it could be extinguished the fire

08:46spread to several nearby buildings, burning them irreparably and making more

08:52than 100 people homeless. It was the most deadly and damaging

08:57collision ever to have taken place involving just two vehicles.

09:04An investigation was launched into the disaster, and several key factors were

09:09identified. The performance of Charles Clime, the flagman who had been

09:14responsible for signaling to approaching streetcars to slow down at the

09:17turnaround loop, was called into question. It emerged that he had not been wearing

09:22all of his uniform and had not carried the flags and signal flares usually used

09:27for this task. He had also engaged in a forbidden but tolerated practice known

09:33as plugging the switch... essentially jamming the switch so that it was

09:38constantly open rather than opening it and closing it for every streetcar that

09:43passed. Clime's actions were, however, just one aspect of the disaster. The design of

09:51the Green Hornet also came in for some criticism. The doors that would only open

09:56inwards, the bars across the windows, the fact that there were exit doors on only

10:02one side, and the lack of easily accessible emergency door releases had

10:07all made escape from the burning streetcar next to impossible for the

10:11victims of the accident. Additionally it was discovered that streetcars weren't

10:16routinely subject to the same speed limits as other road users, and that the

10:21driver of the fateful trolley had been involved in ten minor accidents during

10:25his career but had never had his fitness to drive questioned or checked.

10:31Finally the rules concerning the haulage of gas through the city of Chicago were

10:36examined. Other cities made deliveries at night or enforced a mandatory maximum on

10:42the amount of gasoline that could be hauled along certain routes. Chicago had

10:47few rules of this type. Following the recommendations of the inquest some

10:53changes were made. Speed limits for streetcars were enforced, and easily

10:59accessible emergency door releases were installed on all exits to all streetcars.

11:05Bars were removed from some windows, and removable window frames were added to

11:10others. It was recommended that flagmen be given new, highly visible uniforms, and

11:17that drivers be required to pass a routine medical exam to ensure that they

11:22were fit and well. These changes were just some of those recommended by the

11:28inquest. More might have been done, but for the fact that the era of streetcars

11:33was coming to an end. In the years following the accident Green Hornets

11:38began to disappear from the streets of Chicago, replaced by cheaper and more

11:43efficient motor buses. By 1955 almost the entire fleet had been decommissioned.

11:51With the disappearance of the Green Hornets the horror of the accident faded

11:56from the minds of the public. Today the Green Hornet streetcar crash is a barely

12:01remembered part of Chicago's long history. The intersection where the

12:06collision took place is unmarked and unremarkable. Thousands pass through this

12:12junction every day inside safe, modern motor vehicles, unaware entirely that

12:19they are passing the site of the worst public transit disaster in Chicago

12:23history.

12:49you

The Green Hornet Streetcar Crash | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

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